Desktop Linux Hits 10% Market Share in North America, Windows 11 Blamed

According to StatCounter, desktop Linux has reached an all-time high of 10.65% market share in the North American market, a doubling from just over 5% in 2025, though these figures are based on over a million websites and exclude major sites like Google and Facebook. Adding Chrome OS, which is Linux-based, brings the total to 12.72%. The US federal government's Digital Analytics Program (DAP) shows a more modest gain from 0.5% to 6.3% for Linux desktop, and when including Android and Chrome OS, the total Linux share is 19%. The growth is driven by users leaving Windows due to Windows 11's forced AI features, the end of Windows 10 support, and the inability of about 25% of PCs to upgrade to Windows 11. Other factors include improved Linux ease of use, gaming via Steam and Proton, and privacy concerns. Linux is now considered a significant end-user operating system, with easy-to-use distros like Mint and Ubuntu, and it is more secure than Windows, which had over 570 security patches recently.